Conference Agenda

Modernization is a process of urbanization, which has been a process of increasing productive efficiency and achieving economic development by concentrating various resources. Today, expanded urban areas are responsible for 80% of economic activity and are expected to account for 70% of the total population by 2050. However, efficiency through concentration is vulnerable to disasters, and the concentration of population and wealth makes the damage even more severe. This fact was made clear by the COVID-19 pandemic that spread from the spring of 2020 onwards. For this reason, new smart city initiatives have begun, aiming for resilience and agility. This tendency is clearly identified especially in Japan, with frequent natural disasters and rapidly increasing ageing population in shrinking demography. Smart city initiatives have, so far, mostly discussed in the context of democratisation of technology. Furthermore, during the recent pandemic, it was combined with the research focuses, such as, possibility of civic tech and citizen science, and now many digital-driven initiatives are discussed through citizen science point of view. This presentation briefly introduces the concept of smart cities, their evolution and types, and major Japanese examples, while reconsidering smart cities as method and process of solving wicked problems through civic tech and citizen science. The research tries to answer the following question: is democratisation of technology a reality or a myth?

The direction of recent administrative reform can be categorized as NPM, typical of the UK, and NWS, mainly in continental Europe,

while Japan has a normative affinity with the NWS. These differences in PA

models are reflected in the style of recruiting officials. What is regarded as

the core of ‘professional’ qualities differs between Germany and France,

which maintain a closed system, the UK, which has switched to an open

system, focusing on matching skills for specific posts, and Japan, which

continues to make efforts to diversify its entry processes. This paper presents

a comparative analysis of how the differences in the ‘professionalism’

expected in each country (both national and local levels) affect the resilience

of public administration in the face of democratic backsliding. After

extracting the qualities required of administrative officials in each country

through recruitment exams and training courses, the presenter will examine,

whether they are sufficient in terms of professional standards and ethics as

guardians of liberal democracy will be examined.

In Europe, after experiencing a period characterized by the

establishment of parties rooted in political ideology and social class, such as

the German Social Democratic Party (SDP)—the EU has undergone a phase

of 'shaking of the party system' and is currently witnessing the emergence of

populist parties. Conversely, most local councilors have been without party

affiliation in Japanese towns and villages since universal male suffrage

started in 1925. Local community-based support raising has been a prime

drive for electoral competition. The recent population shrinking in Japanese

towns and villages has resulted in a ‘lack of bearers’ phase; we must tackle it

without systems to foster municipal politicians based on political parties.

Additionally, in the 2000s, there was a noticeable trend seeking to centralize

political power, with politicians from a single party occupying both the

elected chief executive and council majority positions in metropolitan areas.

Under these circumstances, Japanese town and village councils have

undergone a ‘Participatory Institutional Reformation’ since the mid-2000s.

The presenter will analyze how this wave of ‘Participatory Institutional

Reform’ has impacted the expansion of female councilors in Japan's town and village councils.

After World War II, local governments in Japan adopted a

strong mayoral-type dual representation system, establishing a framework

in which both the local council and the head of the local government are

directly elected by the citizens. As a result, chiefs (Governors/Mayers) often

exercise strong political leadership in policymaking. However, since the

2010s, several changes have occurred as follows:

 Issues surrounding the election of chiefs; Elections influenced significantly

by social networking sites and the Connection between single issues and

the election of chiefs.

 Theatrical operation of the local administrative system; instances such as

the assembly’s unanimous vote of no confidence in the chief and the

reelection of the chief after losing office.

 Populist policies of local government; examples include reductions in city

taxes, free school lunches, and free high school education.

These problems are further compounded when populist trends intersect

with citizens’ historically low expectations regarding the administrative

competence of local government chiefs in Japan. The presenter identifies

these issues as signs of a crisis in the democratic system and examines why

these theatrical operations of the system occur. Finally, he examines the role

of a system of continuous direct citizen participation that is based on the

actual demands of citizens, distinguishing it from the transient political

actions in terms of comparative administration.